First Edition: Feb. 26, 2024

KFF Health News: Horse Sedative Use Among Humans Spreads In Deadly Mixture Of ‘Tranq’ And Fentanyl
Andrew McClave Jr. loved to lift weights. The 6-foot-4-inch bartender resembled a bodybuilder and once posed for a photo flexing his muscles with former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan. “He was extremely dedicated to it,” said his father, Andrew McClave Sr., “to the point where it was almost like he missed his medication if he didn’t go.” But the hobby took its toll. According to a police report, a friend told the Treasure Island Police Department that McClave, 36, suffered from back problems and took unprescribed pills to reduce the pain. (Ogozalek, 2/26)

KFF Health News: If You’re Poor, Fertility Treatment Can Be Out Of Reach 
Mary Delgado’s first pregnancy went according to plan, but when she tried to get pregnant again seven years later, nothing happened. After 10 months, Delgado, now 34, and her partner, Joaquin Rodriguez, went to see an OB-GYN. Tests showed she had endometriosis, which was interfering with conception. Delgado’s only option, the doctor said, was in vitro fertilization. “When she told me that, she broke me inside,” Delgado said, “because I knew it was so expensive.” (Andrews, 2/26)

KFF Health News: California Gov. Newsom Wants Voters To Approve Billions More To Help The Homeless. Will It Help? 
California voters will decide March 5 whether to pump billions more dollars into combating the nation’s worst homelessness crisis, an investment Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom argues will finally provide the housing and treatment so badly needed by tens of thousands of homeless people. Newsom is spearheading Proposition 1, a $6.4 billion bond he says would fund 11,150 new beds and housing units for people living on the streets with untreated mental illness or addiction, and ongoing capacity for 26,700 additional outpatient appointments. It would also alter how $3 billion to $4 billion in existing annual tax funding for mental health services is spent, funneling a hefty portion of it into housing. (Hart, 2/26)

The Hill: White House Accuses Republicans Of ‘Attempting To Erase Their Own Records On IVF’ 
The White House on Monday put the spotlight on House Republicans’ support for legislation that says life begins at conception even as many of them have rushed to defend in vitro fertilization following a controversial Alabama court ruling. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in a memo shared with The Hill, pointed to GOP support for the Life at Conception Act, which she described as “an extreme, dangerous bill that would eliminate reproductive freedom for all women in every state.” (Samuels, 2/26)

The Washington Post: 125 Republicans Have Backed Antiabortion Bill Without IVF Exception
Prominent congressional Republicans are coming out in support of in vitro fertilization days after the Alabama state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and therefore that someone can be held liable for destroying them. But many of the same Republicans who are saying Americans should have access to IVF have co-sponsored legislation that employs an argument similar to the one the Alabama Supreme Court used in its ruling. The congressional proposal, known as the Life at Conception Act, defines a “human being” to “include each member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization or cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” The bill would also provide equal protection under the 14th Amendment “for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” (Alfaro, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Cancer Patients Express Worry, Devastation About Alabama IVF Ruling 
A cancer diagnosis often comes with a host of difficult decisions, including what to do about the impact of treatment on a person’s fertility. Many individuals grappling with this dual burden turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) as a way to preserve their reproductive options. That’s why cancer patients and oncologists are expressing shock and anxiety about the recent ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos are considered children under the law. (Malhi, 2/25)

NBC News: Doctors Warn Freezing Embryos Is Essential After Alabama Ruling With IVF Consequences
After Alabama’s state Supreme Court ruling on IVF, doctors are warning that women using in vitro fertilization and their babies could face major health risks — and young cancer patients could lose the chance to build a future family — if fertility clinics stop using frozen embryos. “That is a possible reality,” said Dr. Irene Dimitriadis, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the Mass General Fertility Center in Boston. “It hurts me to think of it because that means we’re kind of going backwards in medicine.” (Dunn, 2/24)

The Washington Post: Alabama Justice Who Quoted Bible In IVF Case Often Invokes Religion
In the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote a concurring opinion that sought to define the “sanctity of unborn life,” citing heavily from scripture and theology. His opinion, which drew criticism from abortion rights activists for instilling religious beliefs into a judicial decision, was the latest in nearly 20 years on the bench in which he has repeatedly invoked religion on his way to laying the groundwork to overturn Roe v. Wade. Parker has also openly criticized other judges for not sufficiently considering religion in their rulings and has expressed support for the theory known as the Seven Mountain Mandate, which calls for conservative Christians to run the government and broadly influence American life. (Rosenzweig-Ziff, 2/24)

USA Today: Nebraska Lawmaker Wants 12-Week Abortion Ban Amended For Exceptions
A Nebraska state lawmaker who supported banning abortions after 12 weeks has now introduced legislation that provides exceptions and repeals criminal penalties. Republican Sen. Merv Riepe’s bill would allow for abortions up to 20 weeks in cases of fatal anomalies with the confirmation by at least two physicians that a pre-born child is incompatible with life outside the womb and would die upon birth or inevitably after that. (Marchel Hoff, 2/23)

Politico: Gavin Newsom Launches Red-State Abortion Ads Over ‘War On Travel’ 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday broadened his incursion into red America, unveiling the first in a series of TV ads that accuses conservative officials of holding women hostage by imposing restrictions on their travel for reproductive care. Newsom’s new ad, which debuted Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” will air in Tennessee, where a state representative is trying to outlaw transporting a minor for an abortion. Under the Tennessee proposal, adults who engage in “ abortion trafficking” — helping pregnant minors get the procedure out-of-state without parental permission — could be charged with a felony that carries up to 15 years in prison. (Cadelago, 2/25)

The New York Times: Drug Drastically Reduces Children’s Reactions To Traces Of Food Allergens
A drug that has been used for decades to treat allergic asthma and hives significantly reduced the risk of life-threatening reactions in children with severe food allergies who were exposed to trace amounts of peanuts, cashews, milk and eggs, researchers reported on Sunday. The drug, Xolair, has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for adults and children over age 1 with food allergies. It is the first treatment that drastically cuts the risk of serious reactions — like anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction that causes the body to go into shock — after accidental exposures to various food allergens. (Rabin, 2/25)

NBC News: Florida Measles Cases Rise As Experts Oppose State Surgeon General’s Decisions
The Florida measles outbreak is expanding. On Friday, health officials in Broward County confirmed a seventh case of the virus, a child under age 5. The patient is the youngest so far to be infected in the outbreak, and the first to be identified outside of Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, near Fort Lauderdale. ... Cases are “not going to stay contained just to that one school, not when a virus is this infectious,” said Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. (Edwards, 2/24)

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota Reports Third Measles Case
The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed the third measles case in the state since the beginning of the year. The two other cases were reported last week, and all have been in the Twin Cities. There were zero measles cases in Minnesota in 2023 and 22 cases in 2022. Since 2000, there have been a total of 149 cases in Minnesota, largely driven by several spikes of cases. (Gawthrop and Clary, 2/23)

WLRN 91.3 FM: How To Protect Yourself, Your Kids And Other In Case Of A Measles Outbreak
As of Friday, seven measles cases have been reported at a Broward County elementary school. The outbreak is raising questions and concerns about the highly contagious, viral respiratory infection. (Ramos and Hernandez, 2/25)

CIDRAP: US Flu Levels Stubbornly High As COVID Declines Further
Flu levels remain elevated, with increases in half of US regions, as COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) levels stayed on downward trends, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly updates. Though the national test positivity declined a bit, to 14.8% of respiratory virus samples, the percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness held steady at 4.5%, the CDC said in its weekly FluView update. (Schnirring, 2/23)

CIDRAP: Birth-Month Study Shows Importance Of Timing For Flu Shot
Children born in October and vaccinated against influenza in that month are both more likely to be vaccinated against flu and less likely to be diagnosed as having influenza than children born in other months, according to a new study The BMJ. The observational study is based on insurance records of 800,000 US children ages 2 to 5 years old who received flu vaccines from 2011 to 2018. Researchers analyzed rates of diagnosed influenza among children by birth month, and found that those with October birthdays had the lowest rates. (Soucheray, 2/23)

The New York Times: Supreme Court To Decide How The First Amendment Applies To Social Media
The most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, may turn on a single question: Do platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X most closely resemble newspapers or shopping centers or phone companies? The two cases arrive at the court garbed in politics, as they concern laws in Florida and Texas aimed at protecting conservative speech by forbidding leading social media sites from removing posts based on the views they express. (Liptak, 2/25)

News Service of Florida: DeSantis Receives The Florida Legislature's Bill To Ban Kids From Social Media
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday formally received a bill aimed at keeping children off social media and will have until March 1 to decide whether to sign it. (2/25)

The Boston Globe: Steward Tells Massachusetts It Can't Provide Financial Records
The troubled Steward Health Care hospital system submitted some financial data in response to a Friday deadline from Governor Maura Healey, but the administration said it has still not received all the records the governor has demanded. The Dallas-based company provided systemwide audited financial records for several years through 2021, a Steward spokesperson said, but did not provide those records for 2022. (Laughlin and Chesto, 2/23)

Charlotte Ledger: Some Lawmakers Want To Review Laws Governing Atrium Health
Three North Carolina legislators said they are interested in revisiting the state law that gives special privileges to hospital authorities such as Atrium Health, noting that today’s multibillion-dollar hospital systems are nothing like the ones lawmakers had in mind when the law was written. (Crouch, 2/26)

Iowa Public Radio: Report Finds More Than Half Of Rural Iowa Hospitals No Longer Deliver Babies
A new report found the majority of Iowa’s rural hospitals no longer have labor and delivery services. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform analyzed federal data and found, as of last month, 61% of rural Iowa hospitals no longer have OB care, and of the 36 rural hospitals still providing care, 58% were losing money on patient services overall. (Krebs, 2/23)

Modern Healthcare: Certificate Of Need Laws, Hospitals Impede Birthing Centers
As labor and delivery access diminishes, would-be birthing center operators seeking to bolster the system have encountered resistance from certificate of need laws and hospitals wary of new entrants. Hospitals and industry groups that have opposed new birthing centers contend these facilities should be directed by obstetricians, have transfer agreements with nearby hospitals, and be subject to the same regulatory and licensure requirements as other providers. (Hartnett, 2/23)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Community College Ends Nursing Associate's Degree
Houston Community College has shuttered its associate degree program for students training to be registered nurses, according to state licensure documents. The Texas Board of Nursing listed the closure as voluntary, effective Dec. 31. The Associate Degree Nursing program, or ADN, had been operating with “conditional” approval as of last April — a designation that means it didn’t meet state standards for three years. (Ketterer, 2/23)

Fox News: To Combat Nursing Shortage, Universities Create Accelerated 12-Month Training Programs: 'A Win-Win'
America needs nurses — and some schools are implementing accelerated programs to train them. To shorten the process, these programs cut training time from up to four years down to one. "I really do think this is a win-win for students and local hospitals and facilities," said Elizabeth Mann, assistant clinical professor at the University of New England, in an interview with Fox News. She's based in Maine. (Schuyler, 2/24)

Chicago Tribune: Flawed State Oversight Lets Doctors Accused Of Abuse Keep Working
Doctors and other health care providers accused by patients of sexual misconduct kept practicing – sometimes for years – because of gaps in Illinois laws and a licensing agency that can be slow to take disciplinary action, a Tribune investigation has found. The providers went on to harm additional patients, in some cases, as their licenses remained in good standing with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. (Hoerner and Schencker, 2/25)

Axios: Refills, Emails And Sick Notes: More Doctors Are Charging For Administrative Tasks
Need a sick note from the doctor? Or have them OK a refill? It might cost you. From signing patient documents to emailing responses to patient questions, doctors are increasingly charging fees for administrative tasks. (Reed, 2/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawsuit Highlights Attack On Antibias Training In Medicine
Los Angeles anesthesiologist Marilyn Singleton was outraged about a California requirement that every continuing medical education course include training in implicit bias. ... Singleton, who is Black and has practiced for 50 years, sees calling doctors out for implicit bias as divisive and argues the state cannot legally require her to teach the idea in her continuing education classes. She has sued the Medical Board of California, asserting a constitutional right not to teach something she doesn’t believe. (Cohen, 2/23)

The Washington Post: Prominent Pathologist Jonathan Epstein Leaves Johns Hopkins Amid Review 
Internationally regarded pathologist Jonathan I. Epstein has resigned his post at Johns Hopkins Hospital, months after he was put on administrative leave amid misconduct allegations, the doctor and the hospital confirmed. The resignation came before the hospital determined whether the allegations that he bullied or intimidated others in his department were founded, Hopkins spokeswoman Liz Vandendriessche said in an email. She did not say whether that inquiry would continue given his departure. (Thompson and Shepherd, 2/24)

Modern Healthcare: What VillageMD Clinic Closings Mean For Walgreens’ Strategy
Walgreens' decision to close dozens of VillageMD primary care clinics attached to its stores has left some industry watchers questioning whether the pharmacy chain's strategy is viable. ... All of the affected clinics are attached to Walgreens stores, a model executives had touted as a way to encourage better collaboration between physicians and pharmacists. The convenience of locating a medical office right next to a pharmacy was also viewed as a selling point for patients. (Hudson, 2/23)

Stat: Obesity Drugs Seen As Possible Treatment For Liver Disease MASH
As drugmakers race to join the obesity drug market ignited by the approval of Wegovy and Zepbound, they’re not just competing on their drugs’ weight loss effects. They’re also competing on their products’ ability to treat a severe form of liver disease. (Chen, 2/26)

CNN: Antidepressant Prescriptions To Youths Spiked During Pandemic, Study Finds 
Many young people have reported having poor mental health during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Their experiences are affirmed by a new study finding that the rate of prescribing antidepressants to this group also spiked during the same period. (Rogers, 2/26)

The Colorado Sun: A Colorado Center Is Using Genetic Testing To Improve Chemotherapy
You have, right now inside you, a gene known as UGT1A1. But that’s so formal. Let’s just call it Eugene. Eugene holds instructions for making enzymes that help your body break down certain substances, like bilirubin. This is great because it helps prevent babies from developing severe jaundice. But Eugene also works on other molecules, including the chemotherapy drug irinotecan. (Ingold, 2/26)

The New York Times: As Medicaid Shrinks, Clinics For The Poor Are Trying To Survive 
Appointment cancellations and financial distress have become a constant at Bethesda Pediatrics, a nonprofit medical clinic in East Texas that is heavily dependent on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor. On a recent Monday, the mother of a toddler who had a primary care appointment broke down in tears after learning the child had just lost Medicaid coverage, wondering how she could pay the bill. (Weiland, 2/24)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Overdose Victims Become Harder To Save Amid Spread Of Polysubstance Use
A new and more powerful wave of overdoses is spreading rapidly across Massachusetts, and it’s putting severe pressure on front-line medical workers trying to save lives. In some cases, overdose victims are so heavily sedated on a toxic mix of substances that they can remain in a blackout stupor for hours. In other cases, victims overdose so quickly that there’s not enough time to revive them. These new and complex cases are confounding health agencies and leading front-line workers to rethink how they respond to overdoses. (Serres, 2/24)

The Baltimore Sun: Medically Assisted Suicide Bill In Maryland Faces Uncertain Future 
Fearing the bill won’t have enough votes to pass, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson said Friday that legislation to allow medically assisted suicide may meet its end in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. “This is not a bill that we’re going to be twisting arms on,” Ferguson, a Baltimore City Democrat, said at a news conference Friday morning. “This is one where it’s deeply personal, and people are taking a very personal look. And so we’ll want to know where the votes are before things move forward, but it’s going to be very tight, should it move forward.” (Gaskill, 2/23)

The Texas Tribune: Travis County To Launch $23 Million Project To Keep Mentally Ill From Jail 
For years, veteran Texas sheriffs like Travis County’s Sally Hernandez have watched how countless tax dollars are spent to break the endless cycle of taking mentally ill or intoxicated individuals who commit minor crimes to treatment or the jail, only to see them released within hours. (Simpson, 2/26)

New Hampshire Bulletin: NH House Passes Gun Rights Bill, Defeats Voluntary ‘Do Not Sell’ List
The New Hampshire House took up the first of several gun rights bills Thursday, rejecting a voluntary “do not sell” list and approving a new process for returning firearms after the expiration of a restraining order or bail conditions. Meanwhile, one of the year’s most closely watched bills is set to get its first vote by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Friday. House Bill 1711 would add certain mental health records to gun background checks to prevent people who are federally prohibited from buying guns from doing so. (Timmins, 2/23)

USA Today: Bedbugs Spotted At Las Vegas Strip Hotels In Recent Months
At least four guests staying at four separate hotels along the Las Vegas Strip saw bedbugs crawling in their rooms between Sept. 2023 and Jan. 2024, local outlet KLAS reported. The sightings came months before millions of visitors traveled to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. ... A guest's complaint on Dec. 5, 2023, led to a bedbug-sniffing dog being used at the Encore, where a live bedbug was found, the TV station said. The hotel then closed the room so it could be thoroughly cleaned. (Limehouse, 2/24)

USA Today: Galantamine Supplements Lack Amounts Required For Alzheimer's
Galantamine, a plant extract, is sold as a generic – approved by the Food and Drug Administration – that requires a prescription to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. ... The labels on the generic drugs and dietary supplements all say they include identical amounts of galantamine, however, a Harvard University-led study published on Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed the products' contents vary widely. (Alltucker, 2/23)

Fox News: Grandparents May Have Significant Impact On A Mom’s Mental Health, Study Finds: 'Wisdom And Experience' 
Grandparents could be good for women's health.The support and presence of grandparents can have a significant impact on the mental health of mothers, according to a new study published this week in the journal Population Studies. Researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland found that grandparental support could protect mothers from depression — especially those who have separated from their partners and have become single parents. (Stabile, 2/23)